


Shaking Things Up

by innerslytherin



Series: The Fifth Year [7]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-21
Updated: 2009-11-21
Packaged: 2017-10-03 12:55:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/innerslytherin/pseuds/innerslytherin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things at the BAU are changing.  Hopefully for the better.  <i>Coda to Cradle to the Grave</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shaking Things Up

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [](http://resolucidity.livejournal.com/profile)[**resolucidity**](http://resolucidity.livejournal.com/) for the beta. **SPOILERS** for Cradle to the Grave.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:** |   
crazy  
---|---  
**Entry tags:** |   
[cm fics: season five series](http://innerslytherin.livejournal.com/tag/cm+fics:+season+five+series), [my cm fics: non-collaborative](http://innerslytherin.livejournal.com/tag/my+cm+fics:+non-collaborative), [my fics: criminal minds](http://innerslytherin.livejournal.com/tag/my+fics:+criminal+minds), [pairing: rossi/prentiss](http://innerslytherin.livejournal.com/tag/pairing:+rossi/prentiss)  
  
  
_**Shaking Things Up, Rossi/Prentiss, PG**_  
**Title:** Shaking Things Up  
**Pairing:** Rossi/Prentiss  
**Rating:** PG  
**WC:** 1,553  
**Summary:** Things at the BAU are changing. Hopefully for the better. _Coda to Cradle to the Grave_.  
**Notes:** Thanks to [](http://resolucidity.livejournal.com/profile)[**resolucidity**](http://resolucidity.livejournal.com/) for the beta. **SPOILERS** for Cradle to the Grave.

**Series:** This is part of a series of Season Five episode tags I've been writing.  
1\. [Not So Alone](http://innerslytherin.livejournal.com/1031742.html)  
2\. [Weeping Endures for a Night](http://innerslytherin.livejournal.com/1032872.html)  
3\. [The Blink of an Eye](http://innerslytherin.livejournal.com/1033605.html)  
4\. [Trust and Regret](http://innerslytherin.livejournal.com/1034731.html)  
5\. [Something Pretty Wonderful](http://innerslytherin.livejournal.com/1036031.html)  
6\. [Hope and Bourbon](http://innerslytherin.livejournal.com/1036634.html)

God, she wanted one of those.

Dave kept thinking that while he was watching the girl snuggle her baby.  Prentiss wanted one of those.  He was often aware of it in an abstract sort of way.  It was one of the reasons they'd kept their relationship casual, friends-with-benefits, no strings attached...because Dave hadn't been sure he could promise anything more.

It still sort of freaked him out that she wanted one of those and he'd agreed to it.

But the look on her face when Morgan put the baby in that girl's arms...Dave couldn't buy that look with all the money in his bank accounts.

 

***

 

"You'll have to take over," Aaron had said.  It was late in the evening, when Dave was starting to think about going home to Prentiss' warm, welcoming bed.  It wasn't at all the right time of night for Aaron to be dropping bombshells on him.

He sat up straight and glared at his mug for a moment, wondering if he'd been drinking more than tea without realizing it.  Then he glared at his best friend.

"You're the only one who can do it, Dave," Aaron continued.  His expression made it clear that he knew he was about ten seconds away from an explosion.  "Morgan's temper is too short and neither Prentiss nor Reid have the seniority.  It has to be Morgan or you, and you're the obvious choice."

"Hell, no!" Dave said.  "No.  N. O.  Never."  He glared at Aaron.  "I had my fill of running the team with Prima Dona Jason Fucking Gideon on it.  Don't make the mistake of thinking I want to run it with Drama Queen Derek Morgan on it either."

"Morgan isn't nearly as bad as Jason was," Aaron protested.

Of course he wasn't, but that also wasn't the point.  "Forget it," Dave said.  He sighed, then said, "I'm not going to fuck this thing up with Prentiss, Aaron.  I can't afford to."

Aaron frowned at him for a moment, but finally sighed.  "She _is_ good for you."

"She's the best thing that's ever happened to me," Dave said.  He wasn't afraid to admit it.  "And I can't fuck that up.  She wants babies, Aaron.  You know how much that scares me?"  He snorted.  "But no.  I'm not gonna fuck that up.  And if I took over the team, it could jeopardize that.  So you gotta find someone else."

Aaron sighed again and rubbed his forehead.  "Do you really think you could answer to Morgan?  He's the only other alternative, unless you want Strauss coming back in."

"_Strauss_?"  Dave snorted.  "She's no profiler."

"I know.  She's not even a good field agent, honestly.  Her talents are in administration and politics."  Aaron shook his head.  "But she's done all she can."

Did Aaron actually mean to say Erin was batting for _their_ team?  That couldn't be right.  She and Dave had never gotten along.  Then again, Aaron was damned good at his job--better than Dave, when it came down to it.  Still, Dave had friends that were higher-placed than Strauss.

"Do you want me to--" Dave began, but Aaron cut him off.

"God, no.  Please, Dave."  Aaron met his gaze earnestly.  "If you can go with the idea of Morgan taking over..."

Dave snorted, but shrugged.  "He didn't take the New York field office," he said after a while.  "Even when the brass offered it.  That tells me he respects your opinion, and it tells me he cares about this team."  He paused, thinking about Derek Morgan.  "Emily can keep him in line.  Maybe."

Aaron laughed.  Actually laughed.  God, it had been a long time since Dave had seen that.  "Maybe she can, maybe she can't.  Either way, I think Morgan has a lot of potential.  And if he'll allow us to mentor him..."

"You," Dave said.  "Not me."

Aaron shook his head.  "_Us_, Dave.  If you could see him the way I do..."  He laughed again.  "He's you, thirty years and three wives ago.  If he can just learn from our mistakes..."

Dave sighed.  "Damn it.  You're always trying to make me act responsible."

Aaron laughed out loud.  "And you were just talking about giving Prentiss babies," he teased.  "You're going to have to learn about this thing called responsibility if you plan to be a father, David."

"Don't scare me."

Aaron shook his head, still laughing.

"Fine," Dave grumbled.  "I'll answer to Derek for two months.  No more, no less.  Come Christmas, if he's still in charge, I'm telling Strauss where she can stick this department."  He paused, then leaned in, holding Aaron's gaze.  "And you'll be in the bullpen.  Come Christmas, if you haven't gotten off your ass and done something meaningful about Spencer, _I'll_ do something for you."  
   
   
***  
   
   
When they got back to Quantico, Dave hung around long enough to hear Aaron ask to see Morgan in his office.  Then he left, not bothering to ask Emily about drinks.  They'd abandoned their code phrases a couple of weeks after she pointed out they were spending every night together anyway.  Now they were just figuring out which house it was on what nights.  Most of the time it was his house because it was just easier with Mucci.  
   
Dave glanced at her as he walked out through the bullpen, and she nodded slightly.  He nodded back and headed home.

On his dresser was a small cedar box where he kept some of his personal treasures.  There were three wedding rings in the box, as well as the keys and keychain from his first car--a Ford Pinto that had somehow escaped being rear-ended--and a sardonyx tie tack he'd been given for graduation.  There was also a small gray velvet box that held his Nonna Estrela's diamond wedding set.  
   
He hefted the box in his hand for a moment, his heart pounding.  Would she even want it?  He could understand if she wouldn't want to wear another woman's ring.  He could even understand...maybe...if she didn't want a ring.  Marriage hadn't exactly worked out so well for him, after all.  
   
But Prentiss wanted babies, and in Dave's mind that meant she should have a ring first.  
   
He hoped she saw it the same way.  
   
   
   
She got home twenty minutes after he did.  They rarely left at the same time.  It was a token attempt at hiding their relationship, and he didn't really think they'd successfully hidden it, but at least they weren't flaunting it.  Of course, if he did this...if she agreed...

He took a deep breath as she called a greeting up the stairs.

"Up here," he called back, and fought the temptation to shove the box in his pocket.  _You've done this before, Davey.  You know it won't kill you, no matter what she says_.  Of course, that was exactly the problem; he'd done it before.  They'd never talked about it, not seriously, and he had no idea how she really felt about marriage, especially as it pertained to him.

She was smiling when she came in and kissed him hello.  His arms went around her waist, pulling her close and enjoying the feel of her body against his.  The fervor of his kiss must have surprised her, because she made a noise and slipped her fingers into his hair, keeping him close.

"Hello, beautiful," he murmured, and kissed her again.

She laughed against his mouth, then pulled back to smile at him.  "What's gotten into you tonight?" she teased, but she was obviously enjoying it.  Then again, it wasn't unusual for them to have each other mostly undressed before they'd been home two minutes together.

"Want to talk to you," he murmured, and kissed her again.

"This isn't talking," she replied, and he chuckled.

"You're right.  Come here."  He took her hand and tugged her over to the window, where an arm chair was positioned perfectly for catching morning light to read the paper.  It was growing dark outside, but Dave palmed the velvet box and sat down, pulling her into his lap.

She made a contented noise and snuggled against him, letting her head rest against his shoulder.  For all that they were passionate in bed together and enjoyed cooking together, Dave sometimes thought this might be his favorite place to be with her.  She made him feel strong and comfortable and trustworthy when they sat like this.

He sucked in a breath and said, "Prentiss, I've been thinking."

She went still in his lap.  It wasn't a tense stillness so much as a listening one though.  He hoped.  After a while she nudged him and he realized he hadn't spoken.  "Well, go on," she said.  "Did it damage you?"

He managed a laugh.  "Damn it all," he muttered, and took her hand in his to turn it palm up.  Then he just put the box there.

She stared at it, her eyebrows going up and up while her mouth dropped open.  She hadn't wiped her lipstick off, he noticed.  "Rossi, is this--"

"You want babies," he interrupted, and then could have kicked himself for how smooth he wasn't being.  "And I want you.  So I thought we ought to do this right."

She stared at it for a moment longer, then stared at him.  "Dave," she breathed.

He didn't flinch.  "Marry me."


End file.
